Tank cleaning device



Sept. 29, 1964 e. GREEN, JR

TANK CLEANING DEVICE Filed April 18, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I BY A ORNEYS P 29, 1954 L. e. GREEN, JR 3,150,669

TANK CLEANING DEVICE Filed April 18, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 69 6'6 1 .4- 'I TH T 1 a 68 I I 69 i o 65 I w I 64 47 74 I 77 5 M s L 1 I 5' :5- F l]; 7 153w A. ,1 BY ETK T ,9 gag, u' E13 L aye? OR IEY p 29, 1964 e. GREEN, JR

TANK CLEANING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 18, 1962 TOR. Asa/v 832, Jr.

BY W %F%% United States Patent 3,150,669 TANK CLEANING DEVICE Leon G. Green, Jr., 43 Dawson Drive, West Caldweil, NJ. Filed Apr. 18, 1962, Ser. No. 188,510 3 Claims. (Cl. 134167) This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning the interior of a tank or compartment. It may be utilized in cleaning tank cars or stationary storage tanks but it is especially useful in cleaning the tanks of ships, such as tankers.

As is well known, tankers carry different kinds of petroleum products and other liquids, and after a tank is discharged it must be thoroughly cleaned before a different kind of liquid is introduced into it so as to avoid contamination of one liquid by another. This cleaning operation is usually accomplished with the aid of a water spray head. There is a number of such heads available on the market. The head is usually attached to a hose, dropped into the tank and the water passing through the head revolves the nozzles to spray the inside of the tank. Hot water and sometimes chemicals are used in the cleaning operation.

One of the problems involved is the location of the spray head so that all parts of the interior of the tank can be sprayed with water at high pressure. The spray head is usually moved around on the inside of the tank by a suitable tackle which has to be arranged inside the tank and which is able to pull the spray head around and hold it in various positions. However, the number of positions and the placement is quite limited with a crude device of this character. Also it takes usually two men to rig up a tackle of this kind and when it is necessary to change the positions, they must wait until the tank cools otf and is ventilated so they may enter. The interior is often slippery and accidents occur.

The present invention has to do with an apparatus for locating the spray head in any one of a great number of positions inside the tank.

Another object is to permit the positioning of the spray head by an operator standing outside of the tank.

Still another object is to indicate to the operator through suitable visual means the location of the spray head so that he knows at all times just where the head is located, and can change the position most advantageously to thoroughly clean all parts of the tank. Because the spray head can be located without opening up the tank and without letting it cool off, there is a great saving in both labor and heat energy. Much of the cleaning of the tanks on a ship is done while the ship is under way and the present apparatus is designed with sufiicient strength and rigidity so that the cleaning operation can continue even though the ship is moving through moderately rough seas.

The apparatus consists essentially of a vertical pipe supported on a framework designed to be bolted over an opening in the tank and adapted to permit the pipe to project into the tank and to be rotated about its longitudinal axis. At the bottom of this pipe which projects into the tank so that its lower end is approximately half way be tween the bottom and top of the tank, there is located a swivel joint to which another length of pipe is attached. The second length of pipe may rotate about the swivel joint axis in a plane parallel to the first mentioned pipe. To the outer end of this swiveled pipe a standard commercial spray head is attached. The pipes are arranged so that water may be supplied through them to the spray head. The second length of pipe can rotate substantially 360 around the swivel joint axis and the first length of pipe can be rotated 360 on its longitudinal axis. The

3,i5@,%9 Patented Sept. 29, 1964 result is that the spray head may be located any place on the surface of an imaginary sphere with a radius equal to the length of the second pipe and its center at the swivel joint connecting the two lengths of pipe. The length of each pipe may be varied but usually it is only necessary to vary the length of the second or swiveled pipe to accommodate the cleaning apparatus to any given size tank.

A chain drive, or any other form of drive, serves to rotate the second length of pipe about its swivel joint and an indicating device connected with the drive mechanism shows the angular position of this length of pipe at any given time. Likewise the rotative position of the first mentioned length of pipe is indicated to the operator so that by observing both indicating devices, he will know where the spray head is at any given time.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is decribed in the following specification while the scope of the invention is pointed out in the attached claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the interior of a tank showing the cleaning device inplace;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the interior of the tank showing two positions of the spray head as viewed from above;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the device installed in an opening in a tank;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the device installed in an opening in a tank;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view, partly in section, of the device; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the device through line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Looking at the figures, 1 is a pipe adapted to project into the interior of a tank. It is carried on a support fromework P which is bolted to the outside of the tank T over an opening 3 in said tank. At the lower end of pipe 1 as viewed FIGS. 3 and 4, there is a swivel joint S. A dot-dash line view shows joint S in another position. Threaded to one arm of the swivel joint S is a second pipe 5 which carries at the bottom end thereof as viewed in FIG. 3, a spray head H. The invention does not have to do with the spray head H. Such heads are commercially available and are manufactured by a number of companies. Nearly any one of the commercial spray heads now in use may be used with this device.

Support framework F is designed to support the pipe 1 so that the latter projects into the interior of the tank and at the same time may be rotated around its longitudinal axis. The details of the construction of framework F can be best seen in FIG. 6. It consists essentially of two annular members, upper one 7 and lower one 8. These members are tied together by tubular legs or braces 10. In the present embodiment of the invention, there are shown for such braces or supports. A fewer or greater number could be used. The bottom annular member 8 is equipped with drilled holes 11 designed to receive studs on the outside of the tank adjacent to the opening 3 in the tank. These studs 15 are designed to receive nuts 16 and by means of these studs and nuts the member 18 can be firmly secured to the periphery of the opening 3 in tank T.

The annular members 7 and 8 are designed to rotatably receive a central unit C which is made up of a central tube 22 to carry water and two circular plates, an upper and lower one. The upper one is shown at 26 and the lower one at 21. The plates are joined together by tube 22 so as to form a unit which generally resembles a spool. The upper plate 2% fits into an opening 23 in the annular member 7 and it is equipped with a shoulder 24 of somewhat larger diameter than the opening 23, so that the upper ring 20 rests in and on the annular member 7. The shoulder 24- carries the weight of the apparatus.

The lower plate 21 is designated to fit snugly but rotatively into the opening 30 in the annular member 8. A retaining ring 31 is bolted to underside of the plate 21 by means of bolts 34, and the ring 31 has an outside peripheral diameter somewhat larger than the opening 30. This ring prevents the member C from rising up out of the rings 7 and 8.

The upper central part of the member 20 as viewed in FIG. 6, is threaded to receive a pipe 35 and the lower central part of the member 21 is similarly threaded to receive pipe 1.

Mounted on the member 7 are three lugs 40 (see FIG. each equipped with a shoulder 41 (see FIG. 6). Each lug 40 has hole therethrough as shown at 42. These holes are adpted to receive studs such as 44, which studs project upwardly from the member 7. Each stud 44 is equipped with a wing nut 45 so that the lug may be pulled down onto the member 7 so that the shoulder 41 will bear aginst the upper face of the plate to hold it securely and prevent rotation on the member 7. It will be seen that this supporting device F is designed to convey water from an outside source to the pipe 1. It is also designed to support pipes 1 and 35 and what is attached thereto and to permit these pipes and attachments to be rotated when the wing nuts 45 are loosened. Water is supplied to pipe 35 from hose 47 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

At the lower end of pipe 1, as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4, a swivel joint S is attached by the usual pipe thread. The swivel joint is of the usual construction and consists of a stationary portion 50 threaded on the end of pipe 1 and a revolvable portion 51 adapted to rotate about the portion 50. To the rotatable portion 51 is threaded a second pipe 5 and at the lower end of pipe 5, as viewed in FIG. 3 for instance, there is secured a standard type of spray head H. It can be seen from this arrangement that water entering through hose 47 can pass downwardly to the spray head H and it can also be seen that pipe 5 with spray head H can revolve around the horizontal longitudinal axis of the swivel joint S (as viewed in FIG. 6) in a plane parallel to pipe 1. At the same time, pipe 1 can be rotated around its longitudinal axis.

Drive means are furnished so that pipe 5 can be rotated around the swivel joint S which means includes a chain drive for the rotatable part of the swivel joint S. To the rotatable part of the swivel joint, that is part 51, there is attached a sprocket 60. This sprocket is adapted to receive a chain 61 which passes through openings 62 and 63 in plate member 20 (see FIG. 5). Similar openings, not shown, are in plate 21. Mounted on the upper end of the pipe 35 is a bracket 64 forming a horizontal platform adapted to receive a manual drive member 66 which is equipped with a drive shaft 67 and a driven shaft 63 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). These shafts may be connected by a suitable worm wheel, not shown. A hand wheel 6? attached to the end of shaft 67 serves to rotate it and on the shaft 68 is a chain sprocket 70 over which the endless chain 61 passes. A pointer 72 on the shaft 68 selves to visually indicate the angular position of the pipe 5 in relation to the pipe 1. Chain 61 is guided by takeup and guide sprockets 73, 74-, 75 and 76, which are mounted on the pipe 1, as shown at '77 and '73. By means of this arrangement, the turning of the hand wheel 69 serves to rotate the sprocket 60 and thus rotate the pipe 5 around the horizontal longitudinal axis, as seen in FIG. 3, of the swivel joint S. Plate member 20 is equipped at its upper periphery with gradations or marks and the stationary plate 7 is equipped with a stationary or zero marker 81 (see FIG. 5). When the wing nuts 45 are loosened, pipe may be rotated and its position will be shown by the gradation 80 in relation to the marker 81. In this way the operator will know the angular position of the pipe 1 in relation to the stationary support F.

In operation the apparatus is bolted to the edge of an opening in the top of a tank or compartment. The pipe 1 projects into the tank or compartment and preferably a distance about one-half the inside height of the tank so that the swivel S is approximately at the center of the tank. The length of the pipe 5 is chosen so that the spray head may rotate nearly 360 which means that the length of pipe 5 with the spray head thereon, must be somewhat less than half the height of the tank. By operating the hand wheel 69 the operator can rotate pipe 5 around the horizontal longitudinal axis of swivel S as seen in FIG. 6, for instance. In the embodiment shown, the pipe 5 may rotate something less than 360 because the spray head when raised to a position near the underside of the top of the tank will engage the chain C. This design is entirely satisfactory for commercial use because the spray head H can be raised first on one side of the chain C then swung down and around and raised on the other side so that for all practical purposes, it can turn nearly 360. If it is desired to permit pipe 5 to make a complete revolution, the sprocket 60 can be mounted on pins or on a hub so as to bring it over to the right as seen in FIG. 6 so that it is adjacent to the threaded portion of the swivel joint wihch is attached to pipe 1. The rotatable portion of the swivel joint may also be driven by a shaft and bevel gears and such a shaft and bevel gears could be designed to permit the spray head H to rotate a full 360.

The angular position of the pipe 5 with relation to the pipe 1 is shown by the pointer 72. The angular position of the pipe 1 in relation to the support 2 is readily determined by noting the position of the plate 20 in relation to the member 7. With these two readings the operator knows just where the spray head is at any given time and it should be noted that the spray head can be moved into substantially any position on the surface of an imaginary sphere, the center of which is at the swivel joint and the periphery of which is defined by the radius of the pipe 5 carrying the head H.

The pipe 5 is just a length of standard pipe threaded at each end and various lengths can be used to adopt the apparatus to tanks of different size and different dimension. It is even a simple matter to adjust the distance between the swivel head and the underside of the top of the tank. Pipe 1 can be shortened or lengthened and so can the chain C which is a standard chain from which links may be removed and to which links may be added. The apparatus can be made so that two men can install or remove it. It is sutficiently sturdy so that it can be operated even when the ship is moving through moderately rough seas, and after it is installed it can be operated from outside the tank by one man who knows from the indicating devices just where the spray head is at any given time. There is no need to dismantle it to have a man enter the tank until the job is done. There is no need to allow (tihe tank to cool down for entry of men before the job is one.

Changes in shape, size and re-arrangement of parts coming within the field of the invention claimed, may be made if desired.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for cleaning the interior of a tank having an opening in its wall, a first liquid conduit adapted when said device is in use to project into the tank through said opening, a second liquid conduit in said tank, a swivel joint connecting said conduits, a spray head on said second liquid conduit on the end opposite to said swivel joint, means operable from the outside of said tank for rotating said swivel joint in a plane at right angles to the axis of said first conduit, and independent means also operable from the outside of said tank for rotating said second liquid conduit about the longitudinal axes of said swivel joint.

2. In a device for cleaning the interior of a tank having an opening in its wall, a first liquid conduit adapted when said device is in use to project into the tank through said opening, a second liquid conduit connected to that end of said first conduit which projects into said tank by means of a swivel joint having a longitudinal axis at right angles to said first conduit, a spray head on said second conduit on the end thereof displaced from said swivel joint, means operable from the outside of said tank for rotating said swivel joint so that the axis thereof rotates in a plane at right angles to the axis of said first conduit, and independent means also operable from the outside of said tank for rotating said second conduit about the axis of said swivel joint.

3. In a device for cleaning the interior of a tank having an opening in its wall a first liquid conduit adapted when the device is in use to project into the tank through said opening in the wall thereof and to rotate about its longitudinal axis, a second liquid conduit positioned in said tank, a swivel joint connecting the ends of said conduits and adapted to permit said second liquid conduit to rotate about said joint in a plane parallel to said first liquid conduit, a spray head on the end of said second liquid conduit opposite to the end connected to said swivel joint, means operable from the outside of said tank for rotating said first liquid conduit, and separate means also operable from the outside of said tank for rotating said second liquid conduit about said swivel joint.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR CLEANING THE INTERIOR OF A TANK HAVING AN OPENING IN ITS WALL, A FIRST LIQUID CONDUIT ADAPTED WHEN SAID DEVICE IS IN USE TO PROJECT INTO THE TANK THROUGH SAID OPENING, A SECOND LIQUID CONDUIT IN SAID TANK, A SWIVEL JOINT CONNECTING SAID CONDUITS, A SPRAY HEAD ON SAID SECOND LIQUID CONDUIT ON THE END OPPOSITE TO SAID SWIVEL JOINT, MEANS OPERABLE FROM THE OUTSIDE OF SAID TANK FOR ROTATING SAID SWIVEL JOINT IN A PLANE AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE AXIS OF SAID FIRST CONDUIT, AND INDEPENDENT MEANS ALSO OPERABLE FROM THE OUTSIDE OF SAID TANK FOR ROTATING SAID SECOND 